Creme de Menthe all round please....

Rating: 9/10 (11 April 2013)

Animal activists invade a laboratory with the intention of releasing chimpanzees that are undergoing experimentation, infected by a virus -a virus that causes rage.
The activists ignore the pleas of a scientist to keep the cages locked, with disastrous results. Jim wakes up from a coma, alone, in an abandoned hospital, 28 days later.
He finds London deserted, apparently without a living soul. After finding a church, which had become inhabited by humans intent on his demise, he runs for his life.
Selena and Mark rescue him from the horde and bring him up to date on the mass carnage and horror as all of London tore itself apart.....
What makes this movie stand out from other movies of the same sub-genre, is that it grabs you right from the opening, and never lets go until Jim becomes the thing he is running from.
The opening is something beautiful, surreal, and so visceral, it strikes the fear of god into, thinking that it could possibly be a reality. Vanilla Sky only wishes it had done that scene so classy.
When we finally meet friendlies, the film turns into a survival picture, the four characters trying to find salvation, thanks to Ecclestons radio broadcast. Of course along the way, the group have many setbacks, but this is all filmed so beautifully by Boyle, you can forgive the odd troupe.
Murphy is amazing in this, he really deserves the career he has now, all thanks to his portrayal of Jim. Kudos too to Gleeson and Eccleston, who put in the most humanistic performances as the doting father, and the man who wants to start from scratch respectively.
Harris is okay, but her character grates a little bit, the tough as nails woman, who won't take any rubbish from anyone and is a tough egg to crack. Have a guess who ends up in love come the end, knitting jumpers.
Editing is splendid, and narrative really keeps the film going along at a fast pace, and the final act, where Murphy turns into destructor, it comes full circle, with Boyle showing the audience that the rage virus is all in us, we just know how to control it.
So all in all, it's one of the finest British Horror movies made this decade, and one of Boyles best.
And I never even mentioned Zombie in this review........oh.